Kootenay Direct Action Community stage protest in Nelson
By Nelson Daily Staff
A small group of protesters trekked through the streets of Nelson joined others throughout Canada to protest the job Prime Minister Stephen Harper is doing.
“Stephen Harper does not represent us,” Kootenay Direct Action Community (KDAC) said in a written press release.
“We have lost confidence and it’s time for him to step-down from the job of Prime Minister.”
The Kootenay Direct Action Community (KDAC) is a group of local activists who are concerned about the many issues that Canadians are facing.
The release went onto say the Harper government has displayed repeated disregard for due process and has assaulted the fundamental building blocks of our democracy.
The two omnibus budget bills include hundreds of pages on matters that reach far beyond budget issues, including significant changes to trade and environmental rules.
Additionally, Harper is using the courts to delay justice, such as in the Robocall scandal court cases.
“By muzzling scientists, closing the Arctic research station, closing the Experimental Lakes Area, where the testing of the effects of petrochemicals on wildlife took place, the shutting down the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), and making Canada the only country to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol and the UN desert convention, the Harper government has proven it is an enemy of science and the environment,” KDAC said.
KDAC said Harper’s disrespect for First Nations was most recently shown when he visited the Chinese Pandas arriving in Toronto instead of the First Nations youth who walked 1600 km to raise awareness around the Idle No More issues and injustice to aboriginal issues.
The KDAC said the Canadian economy has suffered under Stephen Harper and it’s no wonder; the Conservatives diverted $16 million to advertise the 2009 expired Canada Action Plan, continue to subsidize Canada’s fossil fuel industry and have increased workers income tax rate, while lowering large corporations income tax rate.
Overall, Canada’s debt and the unemployment rate have increased since Harper became the Prime Minister.
